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The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs

A few months ago I did a post about covers from The New Yorker magazine that feature dogs, spawned by a 1966 cover I bought to frame. Well, I’m psychic—or maybe psychotic—because a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this new release, The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs. The book features articles from past issues, cartoons, and also lots of covers interspersed here and there. Malcolm Gladwell even wrote the foreword, which is equally weird since I loosely tied him into my post as well (yes, I know he writes for the magazine, but I wouldn’t expect him to be the go-to author to write a foreword for a book about dogs). Eerie.

So of course I bought the book, and I’m really glad I did. It’s one of those books that you can pick up, read something short or long, have a laugh, or just flip through. It’s also one of those books that makes a really great gift, especially for the holidays since it’s already red (so just add ribbon, because even when you wrap a book everyone knows what it is). Some of the contributors include Roald Dahl, Maira Kalman, Arthur Miller, John Updike, and E.B. White.

Here is a detail from a 1938 cover, and below a more recent cover by artist Mark Ulriksen.

In addition to essays, there are other interesting spreads mixing things up like this one with a poem titled The Unruly Thoughts of the Dog Trainer’s Lover by Elizabeth Macklin. Opposite the finished poem are the author’s notes and scribbles.

There are also fun little details here and there, like these section openers:

And of course, cartoons are everywhere. Here are a few laughs to wrap things up:

All content from the book The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs, copyright 2012 Random House, Inc.